The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts Fifth-Ranked Tennessee Thursday
2/1/2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Lady Rebels (12-8, 2-5) will seek their first SEC home victory when they host #5/5 Tennessee (19-2, 5-1) on Thursday. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m., in Tad Smith Coliseum.
Ole Miss and Tennessee are both entering Thursday's game after going 1-1 in league play last week. Ole Miss knocked off Mississippi State (76-71) and fell at Vanderbilt (68-58). The Lady Vols were tripped up at Kentucky (66-63) before taking out Alabama (89-54) on Sunday.
Ole Miss is led on the season by junior guard Armintie Price with 17.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Price exploded versus Mississippi State putting a rare 22-point, 20-rebound performance. She also added seven assists in the win for Ole Miss.
After opening the season with three-straight games in double figures, sophomore forward Danetra Forrest has collected four double-figure outings to open conference play. Forrest notched career highs in both points (19) and rebounds (14) against Florida. She controlled 11 offensive rebounds versus the Gators.
Sophomore guard Tasi Worsham got her fifth career start versus Vanderbilt on Sunday. She scored a career-high 14 points in a career-best 32 minutes versus Kentucky. Worsham also added two rebounds, two assists and two steals against the Wildcats.
Sophomore forward Carla Bartee has been Ole Miss' top player off the bench with 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per outing, although she has started three games on the season. Bartee led Ole Miss in scoring against Florida with 20 points. She made 4-of-6 from beyond the arc against the Gators.
Under the direction of third-year head coach Carol Ross, the Lady Rebels are 48-33. Ross, who played at Ole Miss from 1979-82, earned SEC Co-Coach of the Year honors in 2004 after guiding Ole Miss back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight seasons. Ross' Lady Rebels returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2004-05, falling to George Washington in the first round of play.
Tennessee enters Thursday's game with a 19-2 overall mark and an 5-1 mark in conference action. The Lady Vols have taken out South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Alabama in their league wins.
Redshirt freshman Candace Parker leads UT in scoring with 15.5 points per game. Parker is also the leading rebounder with 7.9 caroms per contest and is the front runner for SEC Freshman of the Year.
Two other Lady Vols average double figures as senior Shana Zolman drops in 14.4 points and sophomore Alexis Horbuckle adds 10.3. Hornbuckle leads the Lady Vols in assists (75) and steals (66).
Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt is 901-174 in her 32nd season at UT. Her overall coaching mark is the same.
